


She's safety and home

by Bluebellepeppers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Ginny and luna both need a therapist, Ginny has a depressive episode, Jk rowling has no rights, Lesbian Ginny, M/M, My story now, Projecting? More likely than you think, Sorta fake dating au, They help eachother with issues, pan Luna, slowburn, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-14 08:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20598011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluebellepeppers/pseuds/Bluebellepeppers
Summary: She quietly excused herself and walked as fast as she could over to her old classmate. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears when Luna turned to look at her and she got the full blast of her beauty. The blonde smiled at her.“Hello Ginny, I knew you would be here.”





	1. Chapter 1

In the years after the fall of Voldemort, the wizarding world saw a rise of marriages among their young people. When asked about it, the older generations told anyone who would listen that it was exactly the same after the first war. 

Hermione and Ron became part of that statistic 6 years after the fall of Voldemort. They had decided to have it at a muggle church, which had caused a fit from Mrs.Weasley, but everyone else had been enthusiastic. 

Ginny had never been one to dream about weddings. She never thought about what type of dress she would want, or cake, or any other multitude of things. She hadn’t bothered even when her school friends would talk about it in 7th year, when everyone felt like they could actually have a chance for a real wedding. 

But when Hermione and Ron had asked Ginny and Harry to be their maid of honor and best man, they both had agreed without hesitation. But Ginny later lamented that she wouldn’t have agreed if she had known how often Harry and her would be “accidently” locked in rooms together. Because they hadn’t even been dating. It was mutually ended the year after Ginny finished her last year of Hogwarts. I.e, 3 years ago. But her family was very persistently shoving them together. The only people on their side was Ron and Hermione, thankfully, although it was after Ron had finished offering to hunt down Harry and Hermione had offered to send a jinx to Ginny. 

And now, tonight was the wedding, and the women were trying to get ready despite Harry’s thoughtful but annoying check ins.

“He really is serious about all of this going right.” Ginny said as she was painting Hermione’s nails. 

Mrs.Weasley grinned at Ginny and said “Of course he would check on you dear.”

Ginny kept her face in a pleasant neutral. She knew exactly what her mother was implying, and she desperately wanted to prove her wrong. But she was trying really really really hard not to disrupt her friend’s wedding. 

Since the war, Ginny had to re-examine a lot of her life, and after Harry and Ginny had broken up, Ginny had caught herself feeling oddly relieved. She had felt relieved everytime she finally drove her past boyfriends mad enough to break up with her, and she felt rather horrified that she had continued dating when she felt like that. So she had sworn off dating. Harry, on the other hand, had not sworn off dating. He had finally allowed himself to relax, and had gone out with a few nice people since their breakup. 

Ginny shook her head. She really needed to focus on Hermione. 

Fleur came to her defence, albeit a little late. Her soft voice enveloped the tense room.

“I think it's very good that she is single for a while. Shows independence!”

She smiled at Ginny and for a second Ginny could feel her anxiety melting away. Her mother didn’t say anything further as she finished Hermione’s hair. Ginny finally finished her nails,and Fleur finished her makeup. Hermione stood up, giving each woman a hug. It was obvious that she was holding back tears, and soon they all quickly placed permanence charms on her makeup. 

Their tears were hastily cleaned up when a rather embarrassed Harry peaked his head in to time check. 

Three hours later everything was ready. Harry and Ginny were paired to walk down the aisle as maid of honor and best man. They had told their favorite couple that it was fine when Hermione had nervously brought it up, but now Ginny was regretting the decision. Because as they headed down the aisle, everyone who caught her eye shot either a pitying look or a full on glare at her, depending on what story they heard. She gritted her teeth. Harry squeezed her arm as they went to stand in their respective spots by the altar. Ron soon joined them. 

Ginny couldn’t help but smile at her brother’s besotted expression when Hermione headed down the aisle. She could feel her tears building up and thanked merlin for makeup charms. 

Hermione was led down the aisle by Mr.Weasley. (She had hunted down her parents, but ultimately let them stay obliviated, as they had adopted a 10-year-old girl and seemed very content. She had managed to convince them to move back to Britain for a “retirement”.)

The ceremony itself was fairly short. That didn’t stop both Harry and Ginny from crying before the couple finished their vows.

As the wedding party headed into the nearby reception hall, Ginny found her eyes drawn to a pretty blonde woman in the corner. She peered closer and realized it was Luna.

She quietly excused herself and walked as fast as she could over to her old classmate. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears a little when Luna turned to look at her and she got the full blast of her beauty. The blonde smiled at her. 

“Hello Ginny, I knew you would be here.” 

Ginny smiled back at her. And didn’t respond. They stood there in silence for a second while Ginny gained her sense. 

Ginny finally said “So what are you doing here? I thought you were working out of the country?” 

“I was. But now I’m back.” Was, disappointingly, all Luna revealed. 

“How long will you be in Britain?” Ginny asked.

“As long as I like, I’m fairly free-lance right now.” Luna said.

“Oh. Well. Good.” Ginny wasn’t exactly sure what Luna did, and at this point was afraid to ask.

The two stood and watched the crowd. Harry and Krum were having a rather rousing conversation, while Hermione and Ron were greeting the guests. Luna’s father was discussing muggle newspapers with Mr.Weasley, Mrs.Weasley looking fondly on. All was well. 

“Does this remind you of-” Ginny stopped herself from saying it. Fleur’s wedding.

Luna nodded nonetheless. 

Ginny could read the same thought in her parent’s eyes, along with a few members of the order that could attend. She was surprised to feel Luna squeeze her hand. 

“Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen at this one.” Luna said. 

Despite her words, Ginny could feel the anxiety flaring up in her stomach. She kept the now forced smile on her face as she said just loud enough for Luna.

“How do you know?”

Luna just smiled at her. 

Luna was right, as always. 

Ginny found herself orbiting Luna for the rest of the reception, always around to rescue her from an odd conversation or weird uncle. They caught up in a way that they hadn’t since Hogwarts, and Ginny realized how much she had missed Luna.   
After Harry and Ginny danced, Luna sweetly asked for a dance. Ginny agreed, of course, and for the rest of the evening they tried to ignore how close they were to each other.


	2. Chapter 2

One of the relics of Ginny’s rather hectic years at Hogwarts and being around her brothers was her ability to wake at even the slightest noise. So when she heard a quiet knocking on her door early Saturday morning, she resigned herself to getting up. She summoned some pajama pants and stumbled through the kitchen to the front door. 

She didn’t believe what she saw on her doorstep.

“Luna?” she breathed out, rubbing her eyes to make sure she was correct.

“Hello Ginny! I was wondering if you could help me with flat shopping”

Ginny struggled to stop staring at her and responded

“Yeah sure, I’m just meeting up with Harry at 4.” 

Ginny gestured for Luna to come inside and shut the door behind her. Luna glanced around the small kitchen and Ginny suddenly realized that she was very much still in her pjs. She awkwardly excused herself to her bedroom, throwing on the nearest t-shirt and jeans. She paused for a second before throwing a flannel on over her t-shirt and joining Luna back in the kitchen. Ginny’s stomach flipped as Luna gave her a once over and smiled in response. 

Then something dawned on her. 

“Hey Luna, how’d you get my address?”

“Harry.” 

Ginny groaned. 

They were in the 5th flat, which had actually looked promising. Ginny was fidgeting was she struggled to pay attention to the realtor talk while Luna wandered around. It was a rather small apartment, but suitable for just one person. 

But Luna came back to the livingroom and thanked the realtor for showing them around, but that they really had to get going, and yes they’d be in touch. She grabbed Ginny and walked her out of the flat. 

Ginny was pulled along for a bit before she finally asked. 

“Did you like that flat?”

“Yes, but it seems to hold a nasty infection of wiggle sprites.”

“Wiggle sprites.” Ginny stared at her in disbelief

“Yes. they aren’t very hard to get rid of, but they tend to come back in a year or so, so I don’t think it’s the best idea.”

Ginny sighed and they continued walking to the next flat. It was only after a block or so that she realized that they were still holding hands. 

Luna didn’t approve of most of the flats, and they had even looked at a dungeon-esque flat, which had unfortunately reminded Luna of the whole kidnapping and being held in Malfoy Manor. 

Of course, when she had mentioned this to Ginny, the redhead had taken far less calmly than Luna delivered it. She stared at Luna for a bit, and then leaned in to give Luna a big hug. 

She had apologized after for her reaction, but Luna really didn’t mind.

She found Harry sitting in their old booth at the Cauldron Cooking. It was opened a few years back by some Hogwarts alumni who had missed the food there and wanted to recreate some of the magic. It also was always rather chaotic in there, so they could go unnoticed. 

Harry looked like the epitome of innocence when he asked, 

“How was Luna today?”

Ginny sat down across from him and took the second drink at the table. Harry always ordered for them so she wouldn’t need to read the stupid small print on the menu. 

“Harry, I know you sent her.” She glared at him as he only smiled, which reminded her disturbingly of Dumbledore. She sighed.

“But she was fine. She didn’t like any of the flats we looked at. Something about a particularly bad Wiggle sprite infestation?”

“Oh, she was studying those last year. Did she catch any?” Harry asked

“They’re real?” Ginny sputtered, setting down her hot tea. 

Harry nodded but apparently didn’t want to share further. 

Ginny rolled her eyes. “So, how was your date? Any good?”

She wiggled her eyebrows at him as he blushed.

“It was good. He was really sweet.”

“I don’t suppose you got his name this time.”

This made Harry blush harder. He mumbled a name.

“Huh?” Ginny said.

“I said Nevile.” 

“Really? I always assumed he was a no dating type.”

Harry shrugged in response. 

“So have you gone out with anyone yet?” he asked.

“I think you know the answer to that.” Ginny said, then taking a large sip of her tea. 

Harry rolled his eyes at her.

Ginny sought to change the subject.

“Hey actually, Luna worried me today. She said one of the flats made her panic because it reminded her of Malfoy Manor.”

She had leaned in to whisper this last part, and Harry winced. Although, it was unclear if it was from her words or from the two girls standing at their table. There was a tall blonde girl and her shorter dark haired friend. They were both watching Ginny and Harry with rapt attention. 

The blonde one started talking. 

“OMYGOSH. Are you two back together again? Can we get a photograph?!”

As the girls prattled on, Ginny gritted her teeth. She really does grit her teeth a lot, probably should stop doing that. She was strongly considering growling out loud, which had worked last week when a young man had gotten a little too friendly with her. But it helps when people spread rumours about you being friends with werewolves. Harry must’ve read her mind because he placed a warm hand on hers and turned to the girls. 

“Sorry ladies, we’re not dating, but you can get a photograph if you want.”

Harry rose out of his seat to stand next to the two young ladies. As he took the photo with them, Ginny pushed down her annoyance. But she needn’t have stressed, because by the time she rose to take his place, her magazine smile was on.

Ginny glared at the retreating figures of the two girls. 

“I really hate that everyone talks to me.” She said

Harry chuckled and said “I’ve been saying that for years.”

Ginny had the dignity to look embarrassed. 

“I can’t believe I ever wanted to be in the spotlight with you.” she said, not quite meeting his eye. 

In Harry’s last year at Hogwarts, he and Ginny fought over going public. Of course, everyone already knew they were dating, but at the time Ginny had liked the spotlight. She saw no problem in answering personal questions about their love life, while Harry adamantly refused. 

She thought she was understanding at the time, but looking back left a bad taste in her mouth. 

Harry wasn’t surprised by her sentiment. 

“Being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” he said

“Well duh I know. It just the circus that the newspapers made of everything is so frustrating. People died and were still dying even after the war, and all they could talk about was how tragic our love life was!” She spite her words out, each sentence bringing out a crease in her face. 

“We’ve changed a lot haven’t we.” Harry said. 

Ginny snorted “Dead friends will do that to you.” 

She realized her hand was in a death grip around her mug. She took a deep breath. Harry was never very good at calming her down, and it frankly pissed her off more when he tried to stay calm in the face of her anger. It was why they were better friends than partners. 

Harry then brought up the latest news on the Ministry of Magic and recent regulation on cursed family heirlooms. Apparently Malfoy Junior was in favor of the ban, which caused a very confused Harry to try and figure out how he might have evil intentions. Ginny was able to relax into the familiarity of Harry complaining about Malfoy, and she even found herself smiling at the end of their chat.

Luna sat in front of her easel and began painting in a swath of blue. She leaned over to dip her brush, returning it to the canvas only to realize that she had dipped it in her raspberry lemonade, which was now leaving a nice pink line down her canvas.

She rose, taking her contaminated glass of lemonade with her. She headed into the kitch and dumped her drink. She frowned at the fridge. There was no more lemonade, and she really hated the magicked version. She was debating going shopping when Neville walked in the door. 

She was only a little surprised, as she was in his house. Neville had generously offered the spare room in his house until Luna could find a place. She had been staying there since a week before the wedding, and they both enjoyed the company. 

He saw her empty cup and paint smeared hands and he pulled out a new jug of raspberry lemonade. 

“Did you use the last of the lemonade for paint water again?” he teased as she eagerly reached for the jug. 

She stuck her tongue out in response. She fixed herself a new cup and then fixed her eyes on him.

“So. How was Harry.” she asked

Neville started to blush and sputter. 

“How did you even know about that? Even gran doesn’t know.”

She smiled cheekily at him and continued sipping her drink. 

Neville rolled his eyes at her. He was never going to get used to her knowing things she shouldn’t, no matter how long she was around. 

“Harry was fun. Great. You know, he’s Harry. Uh. Anyway, flat shopping? How’d it go?”

They both walked into the den where she had her paint supplies set up.

“Oh, it was fine, Ginny was helpful, but none of them had a solid connection to nature. Minus the Wiggle sprites, not the right connection.” she said, settling back down in her spot

Neville nodded. He climbed into his spot by the window without another word. He didn’t have to ask what a connection to nature was, he himself had chosen his home based on the fact that a large magical fernery was nearby. Secretly, he found the muggle ferneries to be just as beautiful, if different. And there was one of those nearby too. 

Luna could feel a wave of panic washed over her as she remembered the dungeon flat from earlier. Whoever thought that was a good place to live was clearly not very aware of what people want. She had managed to conceal her panic from Ginny, but she still pulled up the feeling of her hug to help subside the anxiety. 

She paused from painting and sat as still as she could. She felt a little out of breath, but she tried to breath easy so as not to alert Nevile. She tried to focus on the girl on the canvas. A redhead in a sea of flowers. 

She could feel a film of tears trying to escape her eye and she hastily blinked them away. Another deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. 

She finally was able to calm enough to start painting again. She hadn’t meant to paint Ginny, but as she worked on the girl, with her flannel and loose fitting jeans, she knew that’s exactly who she needed to paint. 

A few days after, Ginny found a package on her doorstep labeled “From Luna. Thank you for everything.” with little hearts around the message. Her heart did a little sumersault. 

Then she opened the package. Her face turn bright red when she realized it was a painting of her in a field of flowers. And it was really good. Like really really good. 

She found a spot in her kitchen to hang the painting, right above her table and chairs. She stepped back to admire the work, and a small part of her wondered if Luna meant anything more by it. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the confusion begins!

Ginny dragged herself out of bed and into the kitchen, summoning cereal supplies to her little table. She was pouring some fruit loops into her bowl when a soft hoot alerted her to her mother’s owl sitting at the window. 

She let him in and he dropped a manila envelope into her hand. The owl nudged her hand until she gave him a treat and sent him on his way. Which was irritating. Because that meant whatever her mother wanted, she assumed Ginny was going to comply. 

Ginny huffed and opened the letter, reading as follows:

Dear Ginerva, 

I know you are very busy, but your brother and Fleur are coming to visit this Sunday for dinner, and I was hoping you would join us for once. Bring a friend (or Harry!) if you want. The rest of the family should be there. 

Love, Mum. 

Ginny’s grip on the letter had caused the letter to crinkle. She glared at her mother’s ever hopeful “or Harry!”. Her mother had always hoped that Harry would marry into the family and his options had been Ron or Ginny. Now that Ron was married to her mother’s favorite daughter-in-law, all the pressure was on Ginny. Which was ridiculous, because everyone knew that Harry was already a part of the family, and would always be welcome. Even if he did something crazy like marry a Malfoy (which caused her to shudder at the thought), he would still be welcomed with open arms. 

Ginny tossed the letter in the trash and hoped that she would “accidently” forget about it.

Of course, when she later told Harry, he told her he was already going, which infuriated her further. She decided she definitely wasn’t going. 

“Ginny, you can’t ignore your mum forever.” Harry said

“Sure I can. Remember when she tried to ban me from Hogwarts? 3 months. It’s only been like? 2 months since the wedding. “

Harry hid his face to smother his laughter. Ginny kicked him in the shin which really only made him laugh louder. The little boy in his arms, Teddy, was rather alarmed at this turn of events and was not having it. Harry calmed him down when he started to wiggle out of his grasp, while still holding in his laughter. 

“Maybe you should bring a date? I’m bringing Neville.”

Ginny huffed. “I’m not dating anyone. And who would pretend just for the evening.”

“What about Luna?”

She really wanted to punch him. He’s lucky he had Teddy in his arms. 

Luna was delighted to join Ginny. She had come to one of the dinners the summer before the Battle of Hogwarts, and had greatly enjoyed being around so many people. 

She was really excited apparently, because Ginny’s heart got stuck in her throat when she saw Luna that evening. 

She was in a blue sundress with little bees as earrings and a matching necklace. The bees were actually flying, but she reassured Ginny that they weren’t real. 

Ginny had a really hard time keeping her eyes off Luna. Luna, apparently, had no qualms about staring either. Ginny didn’t know what was so great about a green button up and nice jeans, but she did appreciate the attention. 

And despite the evening of her mother that they had to look forward to, they both couldn’t stop smiling as they apparated to the Burrow. 

Luna rested her hand on the crook of Ginny’s arm as they walked into the Burrow. Two small children greeted them at the door, Teddy and Fleur’s little girl, Elise. They both were clearly getting into mischief at the ages of 5 and 4 respectively. Luna was cooing over a small frog they were showing her when the rest of their families came in to greet the two women. 

Bill swept Ginny up in a big hug, practically smothering her. 

“It’s about time I saw you again! I thought you dropped off the face of the earth or something!” Bill said, his hands on her shoulders. 

She smiled at him and gestured towards Luna to introduce them, but apparently they already knew each other.

“Ah yes, infamous Luna! Charlie told me a lot about you.” Bill said, shaking her hand

Ginny felt a flicker of jealousy. What was he talking about? She shook her head slightly. Now wasn’t the time. She wasn’t Ron after all, she has some restraint. 

Then Mrs.Weasley came in. Ginny stood up a little straighter and everyone quieted down to watch. She could feel her mum’s judgement of her clothes before she acknowledged Luna. 

“Hey Mum, I brought Luna since you said I could bring a date.” As Ginny was saying this she shot a look at Luna to make sure this was ok. 

Mrs.Weasley narrowed her eyes slightly but nodded. Then she smiled wide and hugged them both. 

“Of course Luna is always welcome. Although she and Nevile are always welcome to come, I’m surprised you and Harry didn’t come together.” 

Ginny really wanted to scream. But she smiled instead. She was sure something was twitching. 

“Well considering he and Nevile are dating, I’m glad they came together. Right, mum?”

They stared at each other for a second before Luna broke the tense silence.

“Well Mrs.Weasley, I’m starving and I’ve heard great things about your cooking.”

Everyone let out a sigh of relief and began to funnel into the dining room. Bill took Elise and Teddy to go get cleaned up, and soon Luna and Ginny were left in the entry hall. 

Luna reached for Ginny’s hand. She gently pulled her into the dining room, leading Ginny around her own table and sitting her next to George before Luna then sat next to her. Ginny mouthed a silent thank you to her. She smiled. From across the table, Harry winked at them and Luna enthusiastically winked. Twice. 

Ginny realized she’d be fine. 

They were working their way through the desert when the conversation turned to relationships. Nevile was awkwardly explaining their first date, which had been a tour of the local herbalist museum. Harry was adding in bits here and there, and she could tell that they were holding hands under the table. She rolled her eyes at them. On the other hand, Hermione and Ron were holding hands on top of the table, and she wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. 

That’s when Hermione turned to Luna and asked,

“So when did you and Ginny start dating?”

Ginny’s eyes widened and she did a 360 to watch Luna’s expression. But she was as unflappable as always. She simply smiled and said,

“Well, we reconnected after your wedding and I think it’s been, what, 2 months? Ginny?” She turned to Ginny and nudged her with her elbow.

“Uh. Yeah. Wedding. 2 months. I uh, I helped her look for flats and uh.” Ginny glanced around and realized they had the whole table as an audience. 

“Uh we realized we liked each other and she asked me out for coffee. Which of course I don’t like coffee, but she was amenable for tea and donuts.” Ginny checked with Luna, who nodded slightly before she continued,

‘You know that I was working with Charlie and the dragons? Well, I used to have a crush on Ginny in school, and he kept telling me about her and it only brought back those feelings.” 

Ginny watched Luna with surprise. She hadn’t realized that she was such a good actor. She even laced her fingers with Ginny’s as she continued talking, as if it were the most natural thing in the whole world. 

Ginny could have stayed like that for the rest of the evening. 

Then her mum said “Hey Ginny, can you help me clean up?” 

She groaned internally. That meant that her mum wants to talk. She grabbed some empty plates and followed her mum into the kitchen. They put the dishes in the sink in silence and then her mum cornered her. 

“When were you going to tell me you liked girls?” Mrs.Weasley said

“Why? Is it a big deal or something?” Ginny said

“Well if it’s important enough for you it's important to me.”

Ginny sighed “Honestly mum, I wasn’t even sure until recently. Ok?”

Mrs.Weasley clearly wanted to know more, but instead she just nodded. 

“As long as you’re happy, dear. That’s all I want.” 

And then she hugged her. Which she hadn’t done in a long time.

Ginny shoved away her mixed feelings and gave into the hug. It was nice to know her mum loved her. They stood there in silence until they both heard a loud clatter from the dining room and hurriedly went to check on the rest of the group. 

It turned out that Teddy had just overturned his plate, which really wasn't a big deal. 

Ginny came up behind Luna and rested her chin on the top of her head. Luna was now talking about a book she was writing on local sprites, because apparently the other books hadn’t been updated for the last 100 years or so. 

George came up to Ginny and nudged her hard in the ribs. She scowled and stood up to face him, but realized he was smiling. Which she hadn’t seen him do for a while. She relaxed a smidge. 

“Ya know, Fred and I always knew that you weren’t totally into guys.”

She raised her eyebrows at this. “Really.”

“Yeah, something about your list of women athletes you would make out with?” George smirked at her expression.

“How'd. What. HEY.” Ginny launched herself at George, gently punching him in the shoulder. 

They wrestled for a bit to the chagrin of their mother and the amusement of the rest of the family. Ginny finally had George in a headlock, threatening to tell his girlfriend about a few things she knew about him. 

Luna sat watching them from the table. Ginny caught her eye and winked at Luna, and was pleasantly surprised to see a blush on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahahahaha


	4. Chapter 4

Luna apparated home with Nevile, while Ginny was endlessly teased about not taking her girlfriend home herself. Mrs.Weasley had been very happy to learn that they weren’t living together, which made Ginny roll her eyes. Harry had stuck around to help clean up, so she had decided to keep him company. 

She said goodbye to her brothers as they left one by one, hugging Ron and Hermione on their way out. Hermione squeezed her a little too hard and told Ginny to call her. Ron looked her over once as if to make sure she was still there, but otherwise seemed unaffected by the evening. 

Ginny grabbed a broom and was manually sweeping the kitchen when Harry stuck his head through the doorframe. He waved at her to come over. She ignored him and kept working. 

“Hey. Hey. Gingivitis.” Harry pseudo-whispered

“What Harold.” 

“Gonna explain Lunar eclipse or do I need to ask your gf.” he asked as he leaned farther into the room. 

She shook her head. “There’s nothing to explain. Now shoo.”

“Sooooo are you together or?” 

Ginny refused to answer. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Don’t want mum to realize you’re actually single huh?”

Ginny was saved by a screaming child in the living room. They later found out that Elise had pulled Teddy’s hair when he wouldn’t change its color. 

Harry disappeared from the room, only to reappear with a crying 5 year old in his arms. Teddy must have changed his hair after he got it pulled because he had a pink resemblance to his mother that made Ginny’s heart hurt. 

Harry was soothing Teddy’s crying by kissing the hair that had been so cruelly harmed, and promising a sweet for his good behavior that evening. 

Watching Harry parent always made Ginny feel like a stranger in his life. She had always stayed more distant from Teddy because she didn’t feel adult enough to help with a kid. Now she found herself wishing she had been more generous with her time. 

When Teddy had finally calmed down enough for Harry to multi task, he turned back to Ginny. He gently excused himself while also forcing a promise of an explanation at a later date. 

She heard him talking to her parents and then him stepping into their flue to Andromeda Tonks place. She knew that he had a busy day tomorrow, and that Teddy always stayed with his grandmother while Harry was at work. 

Ginny had finished sweeping, so she just magicked the rest of the dirty dishes clean and left the broom where she found it. She hugged her parents and said Goodbye to Bill and his family before apparating home. 

She made herself some hot tea, sat down, and considered what the hell she was supposed to do now. 

Luna was grateful when Nevile didn’t ask about the events of the evening, and was even more grateful when he went straight to bed. 

It was near 11 pm, and she had a lecture at noon tomorrow, but she found herself collecting her art supplies and sitting in front of another canvas. 

She opened the window next to her and leaned into the cool breeze coming through. She let the rustling of the trees lull her into a calm. 

The feeling of Ginny’s chin on her head and her arms draped over her shoulders was imbedded in her mind. She thought about before Luna had left, and despite the open window she felt as warm as when she had hugged Ginny. 

She finally picked up her brush and began to paint.

Nevile later woke around 6 am to find Luna curled up on the couch, fast asleep, and a painting of sunflowers and a face full of freckles on her easel. 

Ginny was directing a particularly difficult point of play when she happened to glance up and see a short blonde standing in the distance, watching. 

Her heart jumped into her throat. They hadn’t talked for a week since that evening. 

Ginny brushed off one of the kids when they asked why she was staring, and sent them to play a scrimmage. 

Her team was a group of really good kids. Most of them were either muggleborn or kids who lived in muggle/magic mixed communities, which while rare, had a lot more kids than one would think. A few of the kids just didn’t have their own supplies to practice with, so she borrowed the Hogwarts brooms for the summer. 

While the kids played, she headed over to Luna. It’s struck her as a little funny that she was the one always walking to meet luna, even back at school. It felt like she almost revolved around Luna. 

The thought of revolving around Luna made her pause before she fully reached her destination. Was she being clingy? Is it possible to be considered clingy when you only talk once a week? She didn’t know. But instead of answering her questions, she did a little wave at Luna and felt her face split into a grin. 

She couldn’t help it. She kept remembering how Luna’s hand felt in her own. 

Luna smiled at her. 

“Your kids look like they’re doing really good.” Luna said, taking a step towards Ginny. 

Ginny nodded, turning to look back at the group of kids. 

“They’re good kids.”

“And you’re a good coach.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

They stood and watched as Mia Goodwin scored and Griffin O’Leary caught the snitch. The “captains” of both sides looked over at Luna and Ginny, and one of them shot Ginny a thumbs up and a whistle before starting another game. 

Ginny cursed under her breath as Luna chuckled. 

Ginny turned to Luna. She swallowed the anxiety sitting in her throat. 

“Hey, about last Sunday, I’m sorry.” Ginny said, 

“No need to apologize. Friends help each other.” Luna pointed out, her eyes still trained on the amatuer quidditch game. 

“Besides,” Luna continued, “I know how pushy your mom can get, especially about relationships.” 

Ginny’s old urge to defend her parents raised its head. 

“She’s not that bad. But thank you.”

“I know. I just didn’t want you to be the poor spinster of the evening.” Luna said. 

Ginny stood in silence for a minute as the gears began to turn in her head. She had an idea. Even Harry would call it a bad idea, but she thought it was great. She shuffled a little, debating on springing it on her friend now, or over lunch. She watched as Luna absently twisted a lock of her hair, and she finally blurted it out. 

“Hey. Uh, Luna? About my mum?I was wondering, uh, I was wondering if we could keep pretending. That we’re dating. Just for a little bit.”

For a split second Luna’s face looked like she had swallowed a lemon, but then she smiled, albeit a little strained, and said;

“Sure Ginny, anything for a friend.”

Luna tugged harder at her hair and Ginny suddenly became very focused on a leaf by her foot.

“So uh. We’ll have to come up with a backstory and everything. Do you want to do dinner later?” she asked.

Luna nodded.

They both wanted to say something else. But they just watched in silence. 

Harry did tell her it was a bad idea later. But she thought it was her turn for bad ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter is more depressing, so just a warning for anyone. Ill put in any necessary tags before i post it so make sure to check those.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the title is inspired by the mary lambert song. Also! This is a long slowburn, and i dont write very long chapters, but i promise its worth it.
> 
> *not abandoned just a slow writer*


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